


Baby Knuckles

by kulina



Category: Kingdom (TV 2014)
Genre: And they are so in love!, M/M, They have a tiny son!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-14 21:20:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11791704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kulina/pseuds/kulina
Summary: “James, why don’t you tell Daddy why I had to leave work and go down to Grant this afternoon?”James kicked his bare feet back and forth under the table. He shrugged.





	Baby Knuckles

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [My Protector](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11723400) by [moroo1234](https://archiveofourown.org/users/moroo1234/pseuds/moroo1234). 



> Will and Nate have been married about nine years. James is their six-year old son.

“Burns Agency; you’ve reached Will Casady.”

“Hi, Mr. Casady. This is John Bentley from Grant Elementary.”

“Is everything alright?” Will asked quickly. 

“Well, James is fine. But I’m afraid he’s in a bit of trouble. We’ve had a disciplinary issue, and I’m going to need you or your husband to come down to my office as soon as possible.” 

“What happened?”

“I’d prefer to tell you when you get here.” 

Will sighed. “Alright. Let me…” He glanced at his clock. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

 

* * *

 

When Nate walked into the house that night, Will and James were sitting silently at the kitchen table. Nate stopped short in the doorway. “Um… hi?”

“We’ve been waiting for you,” Will noted. “Here, love, come sit down.”

Nate didn’t budge. “Is everything alright?” he asked worriedly. It looked like Will was going to tell him that someone had died. 

Will glanced at James. “James…?”

Nate looked confusedly from his son back to his husband. Again, Will motioned for him to take a seat at the table, so Nate obliged. 

“James, why don’t you tell Daddy why I had to leave work and go down to Grant this afternoon?” 

James kicked his bare feet back and forth under the table. He shrugged. 

“What happened with Tyler?” Will prompted. 

James shrugged again. 

Nate shot Will a worried glance, but Will ignored him and kept looking at their son. “James…” 

“I hit him,” James muttered sadly. 

Nate raised his eyebrows. “What? Why?” 

“I don’t know.” James looked at Nate with tears in his eyes, and his chin wobbled. He whispered, “I’m sorry, Daddy.”

Will was shocked at the sudden display of emotion, but Nate didn’t notice his husband’s reaction. He only had eyes for their son. “Come here,” he murmured, holding an arm out toward James. The boy got up from his chair to lean into Nate’s chest, and Nate folded him up tightly and kissed his hair. “We’ll talk about it after dinner, okay?” 

James nodded into Nate’s shoulder. “Mmkay.”

Nate let go, and James stood up straight, his eyes on the floor. 

“Go back up to your room, alright?” Will told him. “We’ll call you down when the food is ready.”

Wordlessly, James slipped up the staircase to his bedroom. Will turned to Nate once they heard the door click shut. “He won’t tell anyone why he did it,” he murmured. “I thought he might tell you, but…” 

“Is this Tyler Daniels?”

“That’s the one."

Nate nodded tiredly as he crossed the room. “His dad’s a fucking asshole.” He assessed the pantry for a moment and then said, “I’m too fucking tired to make the chicken. Can we have spaghetti or something?”

Will nodded again. “Whatever you want.”

“Okay.”

 

* * *

 

Dinner was quiet, and while Will did the dishes afterwards, Nate took James into the living room to sit on the couches and talk. After a little bit of reassurance and just generally breaking the tension, Nate stood up and called for Will, who turned off the sink and dried his hands. 

“He says he’s ready to talk.”

“Alright, good.” Will had been growing concerned with the way James refused to explain what had gone on at school. He’d always been a pretty open book.

Once both of his parents were seated, James began to speak. 

“Tyler said mean things.” He swallowed and glanced up at Nate. “About you and Papa.”

“What kind of mean things?” Will asked.

“He said you’re freaks,” James whispered. He tried to hide it, but both of his fathers saw the tears shining in his eyes. “And that you’re gonna go to Hell, and that you…”

They were quiet, waiting for him to gather the courage to continue.

His voice broke. “That you’re… faggots.”

Will drew in a sharp breath - he didn't know James had ever heard that word, and here he was, having a grasp on what it meant - but Nate immediately went to crouch down in front of James. “Did you hit him hard?” he asked. 

James nodded hesitantly. 

“Good.” Nate pulled James in so he could kiss his forehead. “I’m proud of you.”

“Nate,” Will warned, but Nate wasn’t done.

“There are always gonna be people that say things like that about Papa and me,” Nate told him frankly. “And I don’t always want you to hit them, okay? Cause we’re grown-ups, and we can handle it, and we’re… well, we’re kind of used to it,” he sighed. “But you did what you thought was right. You stood up for us. That’s why I’m proud of you.” 

James nodded. 

Will watched silently. Usually, ‘Papa’ was the one that stepped in when there was something James needed explained, so it was sort of incredible to see Nate like this. He’d always been a great dad, but he wasn’t much of a talker. He gave big hugs and was the first one to pick the little boy up when he said he was tired. He was patient and proud, and he’d buy James treats and toys and snuggle with him every night. Those were his love languages. Words weren’t. 

“Now, show me how your hand was when you hit him.”

“Nate!”

James ignored Papa and made a fist. Nate grinned and grabbed onto it. “Good. Just like me and Uncle Jay taught you, huh?”

James finally cracked a smile. 

Will rolled his eyes and shook his head. _Fighters._

“Go give Papa a hug,” Nate commanded, and James obeyed. 

“I’m sorry, Papa,” James murmured, walking up to him with his eyes back on the carpet. 

“Oh, James. It’s alright.” He stroked a hand over his cheek. “I have to disagree with Daddy - I don’t think violence is ever the right answer. But I'm thankful, too, that you stood up for us. Thank you, baby.” 

James nodded and hugged Will around the neck, and Will scooped the boy up to carry him up the stairs. Nate finished up the dishes, turned the light off, and followed them upstairs a moment later.

When Nate found them, James was brushing his teeth in the master bathroom while Will supervised him. The boy had dinosaur pajamas on, and Nate wondered what book he’d ask Will to read to him that night. 

Nate smiled in spite of himself; he loved his husband and his son with his entire being. He could hardly believe he’d ever rejected the idea of having a family. 

While Will and James were still in the bathroom, Nate changed into baggy sweatpants and a worn, white undershirt. Then he walked in and kissed Will’s cheek. “Almost done?” he asked James.

“Yesh,” he replied, his mouth full of toothpaste foam.

Will chuckled. 

He spit and rinsed, and then it was Nate’s turn to pick up his son. (James always did better when he didn’t move around too much before bed.) He laid his head on Nate’s shoulder as they walked to his room. Nate set the boy down carefully on his bed while Will headed for the overflowing bookshelf. “Daisy-Head Mayzie?” Will asked knowingly. 

“Yes!”

Will sat behind James, who scooted back between his legs so he could lean back into his chest. Will opened to the first page as Nate flipped on the warm lamp on James’ nightstand and turned off the overhead light. Nate laid on his side next to Will and James, propped up on his elbow so he could see the pictures as well. He’d always loved listening to Will read aloud, whether it was a murder mystery or one of James’ books about teddy bears or dinosaurs or even a little girl with a flower growing out of her head. 

The story was long, but Will was funny, doing voices sometimes for the characters just to make James laugh. By the time it was finished, James was yawning widely. Nate sat up and turned off the light, and Will slid out from behind James so he could lie down on the pillows. 

“Goodnight, Jamie,” Will murmured, leaning down to kiss him.

“Night, Papa. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Will went to put the book back on the shelf while Nate took his turn to say goodnight. 

“Hey,” Nate said, getting down on his knees so he could be at eye-level with his son, “thank you for telling Papa and me the truth about what happened today. You were really brave.”

James nodded. 

Nate smoothed a hand over his hair. “I love you,” he murmured. He pressed a kiss to James’ cheek and felt James’ little hands coming up to his shoulders. 

“I love you, too, Daddy.” 

Nate closed his eyes as his son hugged him. He wanted this boy to stop growing. He couldn’t bear the thought of him getting older and getting into actual fights. Deciding he was too big to call Nate ‘Daddy.’ Lying and deceiving as Nate had, as Jay had, as Will had, as every boy in the world did. It was unavoidable, Nate supposed. But for now, he still had a six-year-old boy in T-Rex pajamas with missing front teeth who wanted to hear Dr. Seuss books before bed. That had to be enough. 

“I can’t believe you told him you were proud of him for fucking punching someone,” Will chuckled as he closed their bedroom door. 

“I can’t believe he fucking punched someone and you didn’t fucking call me,” Nate retorted. 

Will smiled fondly. “Fair enough.” 

Nate started for his side of the bed, but Will caught his wrist and tugged him back.  “Come here.” He pulled Nate in for a deep kiss. “I love watching you with him.”

Nate blushed. 

“You’re a wonderful father, Nate.” 

“Yeah… you, too.”

“I mean it. He wouldn’t say a word to any of his teachers. Or even me. But give you three fucking minutes with him, and he opens up like it was nothing. What did you say to him?”

“Nothing. I don’t know.”

“No, I’m serious. What did you say?” 

Nate shrugged and headed for his side of the bed again. “I just told him that Jay got suspended once.” 

Will raised his eyebrows. “For what?” 

“Um. There was a kid that was an asshole to me. He had been for years, but in middle school, it got, like… really fucking cruel. I was actually pretty upset. And Jay came down from the high school one day and…”

"And what?"

Nate shrugged again. “He shoved him into a fucking locker and shut the door.”

Will barked a laugh. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?” 

“That’s Jay,” Nate agreed. 

Will climbed into bed beside Nate and let Nate lie on his chest. 

“He did it to protect me,” Nate murmured. “It wasn’t the greatest thing in the world; he certainly could’ve handled it better, but it stopped the bullying. And it made me feel… safe.” 

Will kissed Nate’s temple. “I’m glad he did it, then.”

“Me, too.” Nate blinked as he realized, “You know, you never told me what James' punishment was.” 

“He got in-school suspension.” 

“Fuck.”

“Yeah. It’ll be on his record.”

Nate snorted. “Will, he’s six.”

"I know. But it'll still be on his record. At least for a little while."

After a while, the pair got back up to brush their own teeth and get ready for bed. They were too tired to do anything else that night, but Nate still had a little trouble falling asleep. "Will," he whispered into the darkness.

No answer.

Nate reached over and gently shook Will's shoulder. "Will," he whispered again.

"Hmm," Will replied, not opening his eyes.

"Do you think... do you think James is gonna get bullied because of us?"

Will sat up on his elbow and looked at his husband. "Maybe."

Nate looked heartbroken. "Oh." He laid back down and turned over so his back was to Will.

"Hey," Will murmured, pressing his lips into Nate's hair, "kids pick on other kids for anything. At least for him it won't be about himself."

"But it's about his family, and that's worse," Nate protested. He had always been made fun of for his family, and he remembered vividly how painful it had been to realize that the people he loved the most were seen by others as outcasts, that the men he thought of as heroes were 'undesirable' and 'weird.'

"One thing at a time, love. We'll deal with it as it comes, yeah?"

"Yeah..."

"Come here," Will whispered.

Nate didn't have to be told twice. He turned over and rested against Will's chest. The pair wrapped their arms around each other, and Will softly instructed, "Close your eyes, baby. Sleep."

Nate did. 


End file.
